Tag: Software Developer Staffing

The blended workforce is the workforce of today, particularly in the tech industry. Forbes reported that as of November 2016, 93% of companies had a blended staff of contractors/freelancers, temporary talent and permanent, long-term employees. This has resulted in a renewed focus on the importance of employee integration, which is essential for maximizing productivity.

In today’s tech-centric world, many jobs are performed remotely. According to GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com, 3.7 million Americans hold a position that allows for remote work. A survey of Fortune 1000 companies revealed that this trend is even more widespread on a global level, with workers working remotely as much as 50 to 60 percent of the time.

A 2014 IDC study revealed that there were 18.5 million developers worldwide, with about 11 million considered professionals and 7.5 million calling themselves hobbyists. Now, three years later, there are millions more. Evans Data Corporation pegged 2017’s figure at 21 million, though many speculate that the actual number could be much larger. What’s more, there are over 250 programming languages, with new languages being developed on a continual basis.

The rapid growth of the tech industry has made recruiting and hiring software developers increasingly difficult. For every one developer who’s available to work, there are five open positions. There are also dozens of unique programming languages and tech specialties to consider. Evaluating a software developer’s skill set and talents can be a real challenge. The popularity of agile development has made the practice far more collaborative than it was in the past. Collaborativity has benefits, but is also makes it a bit less likely that a developer can take true ownership of a project. So projects listed on developer resumes may not be accurately representative of their talents. Plus, the fast-evolving nature of this field means that work samples are of limited use. Standards change dramatically and quickly. This represents an added layer of complexity for talent acquisition.

You’ve come to the end of the interview and you realize that this candidate is “The One.” So you make a formal job offer, seal the deal and walk away feeling very positive. You traveled down a long and expensive road to get to this point, as you spent weeks screening and interviewing candidates. You had no idea that just six weeks down the road, your company would part ways with this software developer because it just wasn’t a good fit. This developer was accustomed to working in a large team, so when placed in a small group, he felt uncomfortable. He was stifled by the close collaboration and in the end, he simply couldn’t adjust.

You interviewed dozens of candidates in your search for the right talent. Through the many interviews and work trials, there was one individual who clearly stood out. This applicant blew the competition out of the water in terms of qualifications and skill. Yet today, your new hire is struggling to stay afloat after just a few weeks on the job.